SEPTA fare evasion leads to lost baby

OTIS MORRISON / FOR THE DAILY NEWS This infant girl , who is younger than 1, was left behind at SEPTA's 60th Street Station after her mother and grandmother tried to avoid paying full fare - and lost track of who had the baby.

A MOTHER and daughter who tried to game the system on the Market-Frankford El Monday morning ended up leaving behind their most prized possession - a baby.

The matriarch and her adult daughter, whose names were withheld by SEPTA, were traveling with the younger woman's baby girl in a stroller, spokeswoman Heather Redfern said.

The two adults had a single one-day convenience pass, Redfern said. The pass allows one person to take eight rides on SEPTA on a given day, but the women thought they'd found a way to avoid paying full fare.

The grandmother, mother and baby went to the 60th Street Station, where the cashier punched the pass and allowed the mother to enter, Redfern said. The mother then handed the pass to the grandmother, who was to use it at the 56th Street Station to avoid suspicion, Redfern said.

"The grandma thought the mother was going to bring the baby through the gate for strollers and wheelchairs and the mom thought grandma was taking the baby back with her," Redfern said.

Instead, mom got on the train and grandma headed for the 56th Street Station, leaving the baby in a stroller near the cashier's booth, Redfern said.

The cashier took the baby, who is younger than 1, inside the booth to keep her warm, Redfern said.

When the mother and grandmother were together at the next station, they realized neither had the baby.

Redfern said the women notified SEPTA police and came back to the 60th Street Station, where they were reunited with the child.

Although they violated convenience-pass rules, Redfern said the duo would not face charges.

"We normally would have cited the people who were involved in the fare evasion, but given the traumatic experience they had gone through and because they were so visibly upset, we did not cite them in this case," she said.